Scent of Lilacs

Many people add music to their blogs. During lilac season I wish I could add scent.
There are few scents that compare to the old fashioned lilacs. I love the new hybrids, the blooms are big and voluptuous but to me the scents are not quite as beautiful.
I can't imagine a New England spring without lilacs, they only bloom for a week or two but what a glorious time.
And I love the big old bushes with their gnarled and twisted branches all year, especially in winter.
They need little care, an occasional sprinkle of lime and a little light pruning and they will grow for generations.
Entoxicating, heady, I love to get drunk on the smell of lilacs.

Daffodil Hill

One of my favorite places is Daffodil Hill in Chesterfield, NH. A private garden which is open to the public but barely known, it is spectacular each spring.
Thousands of daffodils are planted here and overhung with star magnolia, creating a magical world.
Star magnolias are not as lush and fragrant as the southern magnolias, the flowers are thinner and more delicate. But they are hardy and very beautiful in shades of white and pink.
We finally had a few days of sunshine this weekend for gardening, a treat this cold, rainy spring. Back to rain this week though, I can even hear a little thunder as I write.

Eco-Tawashi

Despite yesterdays snow, yes it did snow here yesterday, there are signs of spring. The lovely little crocus in the lawn are my favorite. Despite their tiny size they are probably the most welcome of all my flowers each year. I call this photograph Do You Believe in Magic?
But it is still too cold and wet to do much work in the garden and I am thrilled to have received a much anticipated shipment of Eco-tawashi yarn from Japan.
I ordered this yarn right at the time of the devasting earthquake and tsunami so had little hope that it would ever arrive. But my supplier was not injured and shipped the yarn as soon as she was able to return to Tokyo
This is a very special yarn unique to Japan and used to make traditional eco-tawashis, magic pot scrubbers. It is an abrasive acrylic yarn with deoderizing and anit-bacterical properties.
The Japanese crochet this yarn into lovely scrubbers in gorgeous pattterns.
They are called eco-tawashi because they are used to clean pots, casseroles, dishes glasses etc. without soaps or detergents so are great for the environment.
And they do work like magic. I gave the first tawashi I crocheted to my husband and he has been raving about it ever since. Our glass casseroles look like new and our glasses and pots shine.
I have crocheted them into flowers: roses and chrysanthemums, since tawashis must be beautiful and well as effective. They are available for purchase in my Beadedwire Etsy shop.

My "Studio"

Welcome to my "studio" which is really just our sun room but a beautiful space for photography. The left side of the room has four large windows that face south and there are two skylights to add more light.

You can see my simple set up - I create a "lightbox" using a white umbrella or sometimes a muslim cloth to filter sunlight when I don't want direct sun. Sometimes I have the umbrella right on the shelf, sometimes I hang it from a string acoss the window. All very inexpensive and low tech. I actually got the umbrealla as a freebie from a charity soliciting a donation.

I use the umbrella for product photography with a few simple props. Old mirrors or a white plate and my model.

When I am photographing flowers as in the lily and peony bouquests here I often just go with the light, overexposing to avoid deep shadows and to create a very airy, light feel.

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By the way my crocus and hellebore are finally in bloom though it is snowing on them as a I write. But I am hoping spring will really come soon.

Still Waiting for Spring

My best friend Elaine lives in Connecticut - she is busy cleaning up her garden, crocus and snow drops and hellebores are blooming.
I am so envious, we are still encased in snow and I woke up to hail and sleet this morning.
And of course the dire news in Japan.
So I am dreaming of my gardens from other years and hoping spring will come again, the crocus first of course. My front lawn is full of crocus, I plant hundreds of them each year, hoping to increase the bloom though even hidden in the lawn they are tasty and expensive food for the little creatures living underground. I plant snow crocus, the tiny crocus that come in such an amazing array of soft colors and bloom with the snow drops. The hellebore is probably blooming under the snow.
And then of course the daffodils and tulips will come.

















But for now there is just snow and mud. I have been knitting and crocheting like crazy, working on cotton hats and scarves for spring for BeadedWire. Slouch hats, cloches and skinny scarves.

Spring Chickens

Everyone seems to be talking about spring but we still have four feet of snow on the ground and icicles hanging over all the windows.

While I wait for my crocus to bloom I've been knitting little chicks, blue birds and cardinals. They bring me a touch of spring.
A lovely woman in upstate New York bought four of the cardinals and shared a wonderful story.
She has had a pair of cardinals living in her yard for two years. The female has a broken beak so the male cracks open the seeds in the bird feeder and feeds her. That is my idea of a great marriage!

Dreaming of Parrots

There is nothing but white outside my windows, though I can barely see the snow through the 6 and 7 foot icicles hanging in front of my windows. So much snow, its been at least 10 years since we've had so much. Plus the weather people are calling for bitter cold over the next few days. At least my road (dirt) won't start to thaw into a soupy, slidy mess.
I am keeping busy knitting and crocheting for Beadedwire and have begun a project photographing sea shells.
But mostly I dream of spring. In October I planted 150 parrot tulips bulbs. And began dreaming about them and spring.
I have a hard time with tulips here, they make delicious food for all the little creatures. Usually I plant them in big pots (the big rubber ones that shrubs come in.) But this year I bought little plastic pots that are supposed to be used for hydroponic gardening and planted each bulb in its own little pot. I am going to be broken hearted if this plan isn't successful.
Parrot tulips are my favorite, they rank with peonies and irises as one of the great garden flowers. Flamboyant, almost decadent, over the top - it is a pleasure to think of them under the snow waiting to fill the world with their extreme beauty.

Anemone nemorosa

Despite the very early spring and unseasonable warmth the daffodils and forysthia are still blooming stongly.
On the other end of the scale from these vibrant, flashy spring stars are a great favorite of mine, Anemone nemorosa. The tiny flowers are only about an inch across and a few inches tall. But their beauty and elegance belies their size. Plus they grow into nice sized patches. Though they take a while to establish and need some protection from aggressive neighbors when small they are easy to grow in light shade.

Rain Days

I have been so spoiled by this incredible spring, perhaps the most beautiful spring I can remember. Warm, clear sunny days. All of the flowers coming early.
Aren't the forsythia gorgeous against the turquoise sky?
It began to rain last night and the forecast is for days of rain ahead.
But my friend Elaine is right, this spring is coming too quickly, some cold rainly days will help to slow it down to a more normal pace.
And then the tulips will begin to open.

The Earliest Spring

Whether it is global warming or just typical unpredictable New England weather, this is earliest, warmest spring I can remember. Record warmth and more coming. It has stopped raining so I've been in the garden every day. The vinca is blooming. It can be an invasive pest but it is a nice ground cover in the right spot and the flowers are lovely in early spring. Unfortunately at my last home it had invaded a beautiful hillside that was covered in blood root flowers in early spring. I hope the vinca has not destroyed them.




The daffodils are opening very early and very quickly. I have very early and very late bloomers so the daffodil season usually spans most of April and May. I'm worried that this year the bloom will be compressed into a few weeks because of the warm weather.
Truly a wonderful carefree flower, queen of its season. The daffodil here is from my series Watergardens, flowers photographed underwater.



Our cooperative gallery, the Walpole Artisans Cooperative is hosting a cupcake social for moms on the Saturday before Mother's Day. My friend Loribeth made these incredible cupcakes for the event. She uses old sweaters which she felts and adorns beautifully. You can visit Loribeth on her blog maminkagirl.

Dreaming of Lilacs

Although spring is early and mild it is also windy and wet. All of my crocus are beaten down by rain and wind. A sad sight. But the daffodils have big swollen buds. Everything is early this year, my mums will be opening in June at this rate.
But I am having trouble waiting for the garden. Last night was cold and the garden is very wet so working there will have to wait at least a few days.
Meanwhile I am dreaming of lilacs, looking through last years photographs. These three capture the mood of spring, soft and dreamy.
They are also offered on Etsy at a special price as a set.

Star Magnolia

Magnolias will probably not be blooming in New Hampshire for at least another month. But I have been sorting through photographs from last season. These four are all Star Magnolia ( Magnolia stellata) an early blooming variety with flowers that are smaller than its lush sisters. It is very hardy and easy to grow and the blooms are exquisite in their simple way. These were photographed on Daffodil Hill in Chesterfield NH. The magnolias bloom with the daffodils creating a magical scene. Unfortunately they bloom at the height of black fly season so nets and bug spray are necessary gear.
These four photographs are offered on Etsy as a set for a special sale price of 4/$40.

Spring

Spring has come early this year. And for those of us in northern New England it was an easy winter with few storms or cold weather.
But spring is always welcome here however fleeting.
My snow crocuses and hellebores are in full bloom and the coltsfoot blooms along the road.
Coltsfoot can be a nasty weed spreading fiercely. The flowers and seed heads look like dandelions but it blooms much earlier when any color is welcome. Not a plant I would want in the garden but pleasant along our country road.
I have been making mosaics from last summers blooms, delicate ethereal images. They are available on Etsy as mosaics or individual photographs.
Too wet to work in the garden so I continue to knit and have some new cotton scarves for spring and summer.

Apple Blossoms

It has been so mild this spring that the flowers seem to be ahead of schedule. I already have a few peonies, iris and even poppies open in the garden, flowers that usually come in June in New Hampshire.

The fruit tree blossoms have passed. They were beautiful in mass and as individual blooms carrying the promise of fruit next fall. The deep pink maroon of the unopened buds is lovely with the chartreuse of the new leaves.

It is a dry spring and I had to drag out the hoses today to water seedlings and transferred plants. I bought many large annuals last week that I hope will quickly fill garden gaps. I planted tithonia, the new double click cosmos, larkspur, agrostemma, hollyhocks in six packs, annual asters, verbena bonariensis, and lavatera. Now I will anxiously hope for rain.

Find of the Day: I love the simplicity and the elegance of the lines and shape of this handcrafted sterling silver gingko leaf ring from esdesigns on Etsy. The ring will be made to order in any size.

Lilacs

Lilacs are the state flower of New Hampshire. I grew up in Southern Connecticut where lilacs bloom in April but here they don't bloom til the second week of May. They are welcome at any time; it is impossible to imagine a New England spring without the scent of these beauties.
I like the newer hybrids with their huge blossoms and rich colors but for aroma I don't think the old fashioned lilac species can be beat. Old lilac trees can be huge and unless they are pruned you can end up with blooms across the top that can only be enjoyed from a second story bedroom. But an old gnarled lilac bush is a lovely site even without bloom.
Be careful if you do prune because the blooms are formed on old wood, if you prune too much there will be no flowers in the spring.

Find of the Day:

Landing in Flowers is a ttv (through the viewfinder) photograph by Barbara Carter from her bird series. It has a beautiful subdued painterly quality, tranquil, elegant. Ttv photography is difficult with stationary objects, amazing with this living creature.

Visit Barbara Carter's Etsy shop to see all of her bird images.

The First Daffodils of 2009

I'm very excited my daffodils have begun to bloom! Today I worked in the garden (with help from my little dog Rory) raking off leaves and weeding.

i took the top picture today using the TTV method, shooting through the viewfinder of an old Kodak with my digital camera. It is a little unwieldy holding both camera but very interesting.

The second photo is a daffodil photographed under water through the side of a vase. The frilly petals remind me of a tutu so I call this one Yellow Ballerina.

Find of the Day:

This is such a pretty necklace, the little glass flowers remind me of daffodils. The necklace is made of sterling, Czech glass flowers and Swarovski crystals. You can see it and more lovely jewelry at AliBaliJewellery on Etsy.

Glory of the Snow

My snow crocus finally have some company in the garden: Glory of the Snow (chionodoxa), puschkinia, and the little iris reticulata.
I am very fond of the chionodoxa which flower so early and so reliably. Although I like the little blue ones I especially love the slightly taller pink version, c. forbesii 'Pink Giant'.
For years I have pronouced chiondoxa with a soft ch, but at a party my friend Abby was talking about her blooms and pronounced it with a hard ch like a K. At first I did not even realize what flower she meant. We of course had a "discussion" of the proper pronunciation. Turns out, of course, that I was wrong (I almost always am in such matters). The correct pronounciation is Chionodoxa=KI-o-no-DOX-a. The KI is a long i. From Gr. chios (snow) and doxa (glory). Thank you Abby.
In any case they are a lovely easy flower and don't seem to get eaten by the little animals who live under the garden, I guess they are not as tasty as crocus.

Find of the Day:

I am always astonished by the work of glass artists: isn't this bowl amazing? Gorgeous, organic shape, and it is beautifully photographed. I would love to have this on a glass shelf in a window.

This bowl in by Heather Palmer of San Francisco and is available from her Etsy shop.